Forest of Fireflies
by Gia
Summary: [Oneshot Based on Hotaru no Mori] A young Misao gets lost in a forest, and is rescued by a mysterious boy, Aoshi, who refuses to let her touch him. He tells her it is because it would cause him to disappear.


**Title**: Forest of Fireflies

**Author**: Gia

**E-Mail**: http/ gialemonde . cjb . net

**Rating**: PG

**Pairing**: Implied Aoshi/Misao

**Time**: AU. Over the course of Misao's childhood really.

**Summary**: A young Misao gets lost in a forest, and is rescued by a mysterious boy, Aoshi, who refuses to let him touch her. He tells her it is because it would cause him to disappear... Based on Hotaru no Mori

**Disclaimer**: I own not a thing. Based on **Hotaru no Mori**. Hence the title of this fanfic! XD

**Author** **Notes**: After reading the manga, I thought it was absolutely wonderful. The ending was so.. heartbreaking. Most of my reviewers should know that I hardly write **Rurouni Kenshin** fanfics, and I admit, I haven't read nearly enough to feel wholly comfortable writing this. So what, may you ask, was I thinking when I chose this particular pairing? Well, to be honest, I never got the sense that Aoshi and Misao made any headway, in terms of romance. I mean, the couple must be some warped canon but I never so it officially named.. unless I'm blind. XD

Since I haven't seen anything of the sort, I thought the whole plot would fit. And for those who haven't even heard of, much less read the manga—it doesn't matter! XD And for those who have read the manga, then you'll notice that I've pretty much taken the words of the manga and tweaked them to fit the story.

* * *

_I was six when I first saw him._

The cicadas' high-pitched droning sounds were the only things that broke the sound of nature. Hardly a breeze stirred the large trees, for during the hot summer, a breeze was too much to hope for. At best, the mountainous area provided the best shade to stray travelers, indeed it was the only thing a six-year-old Misao Makimachi could be thankful about.

_During the hot summer, I was lost in the mountains of god where monsters live. I ran around searching for the way out but I became too exhausted to move._

Every summer, Misao was sent to her grandfather's home. He was, in Misao's opinion, the greatest grandfather she could have. She never tired of hearing stories from the man, especially the old folktales he would whisper to her at night. Above all things, Misao enjoyed a good story.

_I finally started to cry. _

_--Then he appeared in front of me._

While her grandfather was taking an afternoon nap, Misao decided to do a little exploring on her own. It didn't take her long to realize that she had wandered too far, and even a less amount of time for her to cry. She was sitting down, hunched over as she cried when there was a sound. Misao looked up and caught sight of a boy, older than she, peeking from behind one of the trees. She couldn't see his face, which wasn't surprising as he was wearing a ridiculous mask of a smiling cat.

"Why are you crying?" came the curious question.

Completely ignoring the question, Misao jumped and ran towards him. "Someone came to save me!"

"Wha—" The boy held out his hands as if to stall her, but at the last minute, jerked his body around to avoid her enthusiastic hug. Finding herself hugging nothing but air, Misao managed to trip and fall onto the ground. She winced in pain, otherwise unharmed, and glared back at the unnamed boy. Angrily shoving her messy braid from her face, she stood up to face him.

"What was _that_ for?" She eyed the mask he was wearing dubiously.

"I'm sorry. Aren't you a human's kid?"

Misao could only blink at the odd question.

"I am going to disappear if a human touched me." He explained, his hands still by his sides. From being in such close proximity to the boy, Misao guessed he was way older (_only 18_) than her six-year-old self. _'And he's huge_..' Misao found herself craning her neck up just to make eye contact.

"Then," she began, "do you mean you are not a human?"

"I live in this forest." he simply replied.

"Really?" Misao's annoyed feelings vanished, only to be replaced by pleased surprise. "You're a _monster_?" At the boy's nod, she frowned in thought. She took in the rest of his appearance, eying the plain shirt and the equally plain pants. "…but what do you mean by disappear?"

There was pause, and yet no answer came from the boy. Moving slowly forward, she reached out a hand—

To which the boy neatly dodged.

Laughing despite herself, she grinned and ran full speed at him. After several successful dodges, Misao was working up the nerve to finally make contact. She had managed to corner the boy in front of a tree and was prepared to prove that he was lying about disappearing—

**Thud**.

Somehow —_Misao's six-year-old brain couldn't fathom_— the boy had disappeared from his spot and appeared directly behind her. She hadn't hit the tree _too_ hard, but it was enough pain to get her attention. "_Ow, ow, ow.. _you're really not human." She valiantly tried to prevent the sulky pout from appearing on her face but failed to do so.

The boy stood several feet away from her, shaking his head slightly. "Ignorant child… _disappear_ means **vanish**. The God of this mountain cast a spell on me. If a human touches me, that's the end of me."

Misao sighed, straightening up from her graceless fall. She pushed back the strands of hair whipping about her face due to a sudden gust of wind. "_m'sorry.._" she muttered.

She risked a peek up at the now silent boy, but nothing could be read from behind the mask. It was then that a long, narrow stick was held in front of her. Was he going to beat her for this…?

"…you're lost right?" He shook the stick a bit. "I can't touch you so hold on to this."

He turned around so his back was to her, but the stick still held out behind him. "I will take you out from this forest."

Misao looked from the stick and up at the boy. From here, she finally noticed the black strands of hair and found herself wondering, yet again, if he really was a monster. But at the boy's proclaiming to take her out, she couldn't help herself.

"THANK YOU" She rushed forward to hug him—

"_Ow, ow, ow…_" —only to grasp nothing but air as he neatly side-stepped her.

The boy sighed behind the mask, shaking his head down at her crumpled form.

* * *

After what seemed like an eternity (_half an hour_), Misao recognized the familiar pathway that led to her grandfather's home. The path was also parallel to one that led to an abandoned temple, but that never interested Misao. She minutely tightened her grip on the stick as she looked up to regard the boy.

"This is like a date!" She laughed, tugging the stick gently to garner a response from the silent boy.

"This is not like a date at all—" this time, he cut himself off. For once, Misao wasn't displeased with his strange silence. Just as she was about to hum to herself to break the silence, he spoke up. "..are you not scared?"

Misao tilted her head. "Of what?"

"…never mind." He suddenly halted along the path, the temple's looming presence serving as shade. "Walk straight this way, and you can go home."

She smiled, releasing the stick and making sure to make a wide berth as she walked around him. Rather than immediately walking away, she turned back around to face him. "Are you always here? Can I see you again?"

The boy wrapped his arms around himself, a mock-embrace. "This _is a forest of god, where monsters live_," he recited, "_once you enter, you can never return—don't enter the forest_. Didn't people in the village say that?"

Misao frowned at the words but only shrugged in response to his question. She placed her small hands on her hips as she regarded the tall boy. "I am Misao Makimachi." She dropped the pose and smiled. "What's your name?"

The mask tilted downward slightly as he tightened the grip on his arms. He said nothing.

Her smile bled away as she waited for a response. She eyed the fake eyes of the mask, and immediately hated the fake smile. "A-anyway," she continued hurriedly, "I will come back tomorrow. Goodbye!"

Feeling embarrassed for no reason, she turned and ran—

"I am Aoshi."

—Misao stopped, turning around in surprise. _'He's gone_…'

Footsteps from behind her made her turn around, expecting to see the strange boy ('_Aoshi_', she corrected herself) only to be disappointed at the sight of her grandfather. Realizing her feelings, she shook her head and perked up as she ran to hug her grandfather—

"_Ow, ow, ow…why d'you have to hit me_?" Misao whined, clutching her head.

In all actuality, it was merely firm tap on the head but six-year-olds were allowed to exaggerate.

"You could have gotten lost in the mountain." Her grandfather replied sternly, looking down at his granddaughter with worry. "Come now, we'll go home."

She grinned, his earlier action forgotten as she reached up to grasp his hand. "_Ojisan_, is it true monsters live in the mountain?"

He said nothing for awhile as they continued to walk along the path. "Do you mean," he turned to look down at her with a gentle smile, "about the god of the mountain? It's a legend, you know."

At the word '_legend_', Misao immediately tugged on his hand for him to continue.

"When I was small," he began, "I also used to enter the forest with a friend. We never saw a monster but I think I saw something moving at the edge."

He paused, tilting his head in thought. "In the summer, we heard music from the forest…" he suddenly smiled. "I remember my friend Okita-san… he told me he got lost in the festival that was held in this mountain."

He laughed to himself. "People in the village never held a festival in that mountain. So we wonder, maybe it was held by the monsters in the forest. _Aa_… I was so young…"

The two continued the rest of the walk in silence.

* * *

The next day, Misao left her grandfather to his regular afternoon nap and headed straight for the entrance to the abandoned temple. Sure enough, Aoshi was leaning against one of the posts, the same mask still on his face.

"Here you are."

Misao blinked at the odd statement. "Here I am." She agreed with toothy grin.

Aoshi pushed himself off the post to stand on the steps leading to the temple. "I cannot believe you really came." There were the barest hints of relief in his voice, something Misao caught.

"—You've waited for me to come back—_?" _Without realizing it, she had stepped forward to hug him before—

"—_Ow, ow, ow.._"

There was a sigh from behind the mask. "You are a very ignorant kid."

Misao winced. "Sorry… I was too excited."

Aoshi shrugged her apology off. "This place is too hot. Let's go to somewhere cooler."

He stepped down the steps until he was standing beside her. "Don't worry, I will take you back again."

Misao smiled up at him.

* * *

Misao guessed that a lot of time had gone by (_only one hour)_ since her little adventure with her new friend, Aoshi. They had found a wooden bridge that took them across a shallow stream, so Misao had taken her time to admire several fish that swam by. Through it all, Aoshi had said nothing. His silence was something Misao quickly understood to be the main thing Aoshi did, but of course, Misao had more than enough words to say for the both of them together.

She was walking alongside of him when something in the corner of her eye moved. She immediately stopped in her tracks, her eyes narrowing at a shadowed shape behind a tree. It was some distance away from the two so she couldn't make out any distinct features. To her surprise, the shape spoke.

"_A_o_s_h_i_, i_s _t_h_a_t _a _h_u_m_a_n_'s _c_h_i_l_d_?" Misao took a step back, mindful of keeping her distance from Aoshi. "_C_a_n _I _e_a_t_ i_t_?"

Aoshi himself turned to face the monster —_for that was what it was_— and spoke back in a conversational tone. "No, she is my friend."

The shape seemed to waver in its spot before speaking again. "_F_i_n_e. _H_u_m_a_n_'s _c_h_i_l_d_," Misao gulped when she realized she was being addressed, "_D_o _n_o_t_ t_o_u_c_h _A_o_s_h_i_."

Misao's eyes widened and she momentarily forgot her fear of the monster. Beside her, Aoshi began to lift his mask.

"_I_f _y_o_u_ t_o_u_c_h _h_i_m_," the monster continued, "I _a_m _g_o_i_n_g_ t_o _e_a_t _y_o_u_—"

"—**_ACHOO_**!"

Misao herself jumped in surprise at Aoshi's sudden sneeze, only to be even more startled when the monster itself moved from its shadowed hiding place to reveal itself. With its head ducked down, it immediately fled.

"A-A.. fox" Misao exclaimed, watching it run away.

"That's also a monster." Aoshi quietly pointed out, straightening his mask. "He likes to trick people but he is a coward and nice."

"_Sugoi_!" Misao threw her hands up. "Monsters really exist!"

Aoshi turned to her. "Hey, what do you think I am?" he asked dryly.

Misao turned to face him, dropping her hands in the process. "Aoshi, are you a faceless monster?" She pointed up at him. "Why are you wearing a mask?"

Aoshi shrugged. "No reason." He turned away from her and began walking in another direction. "It doesn't matter about me. Tell me about you, Misao…"

Misao grinned, jogging to catch up to him before settling into a comfortable walking pace. "Are you interested?" she teased.

"That's why I'm here."

Misao was sure he was smiling behind the mask.

* * *

_I came to the forest everyday to visit him. I spent the summer playing in the forest._

_Even though it was trivial, my days were full of happiness._

Misao sighed in pleasure, lying back against the grass to enjoy the shaded sun. Aoshi was also lying down but a good deal away from her, just in case they may make contact. She turned her head to the side to face him, her eyes immediately alighting on the mask.

She sat up and crawled towards his prone form. "Aoshi, are you sleeping?" She was leaning over his head to look down at him, but even at the close distance, Aoshi made no move to acknowledge her. _'It should be okay to touch the mask…_'

Trembling hands reached forward and gently pulled the mask away from his face. The face behind it was nothing Misao ever expected. _'He's human_—_! He has to be!'_ Her eyes traced his sleeping face, the parted lips, the dip of his cheeks, the shockingly blue eyes—

Misao blinked. _'He's… awake.'_

"I'M SORRY!" and slammed the mask back onto his face.

"Hey—_ouch_!" Aoshi shot up, his hand grasping his mask painfully. Misao leaned back and stared at him in surprise. "Attack me while I am asleep… you are such an ignorant kid."

"…but you pretended to be asleep." Misao pointed out, frowning.

Aoshi propped a leg up, his elbow placed on his knee so he could prop his chin in the palm of his hand. "My face wasn't a big deal, right?"

Misao flushed in embarrassment. "…why are you wearing a mask?" she hurried on.

Aoshi turned his head away. "If I am not wearing a mask…" he turned back to her. "I won't look like a monster."

"…that's weird."

And to her surprise, Aoshi laughed.

* * *

"Aoshi," she spoke up as they were walking back to her house, "from tomorrow I can't come here for a while. I told you before right?"

She glanced at him. "I visit my grandfather during summer holidays, so I have to go home tomorrow."

Aoshi continued walking without replying. The pause this time was so much longer than Misao was used to (_only ten seconds_) but Aoshi actually stopped walking to face her. "Are you able to visit next year?"

Misao gave him her biggest smile. "YES"

_Since then, I was excited about summer. Next summer, Aoshi has waited for me to come. The same summer arrived again and again…_

"A_o_s_h_i, _b_ec_a_r_e_f_u_l." A monstrous hand reached out from a tree and gently grasped Aoshi by his shoulders. "_T_h_a_t _i_s _a_ h_u_m_a_n'_s_ c_h_i_l_d. _Y_o_u_ w_i_l_l_ d_i_s_a_p_p_e_a_r _i_f _i_t _t_o_u_c_h_e_d_ y_o_u."

Aoshi looked up in the direction of the tree, lightly patting the large hand grasping his torso. "I know, thank you."

"_H_u_m_a_n_'s _c_h_i_l_d_… d_o_ n_o_t _t_o_u_c_h_ h_i_m."

"Yes…" Misao bowed.

…_Aoshi is respected by the monsters. They are able to touch Aoshi._

"MisaoMi_sao_, where are you?"Aoshi looked around, wondering where the girl had gone.

"Mis—"

"—**_BOO_**!"

Aoshi fell back onto the ground, his hand grasping his chest as he stared up at Misao. She had apparently climbed one of the trees to scare him. Which she did…

"What are you doing?" Aoshi asked, trying to calm his rapidly beating heart.

Misao grinned over her shoulder as she made her way down the tree. "I wanted to look at you surprised… when you are with me, can you take off your mask?"

Aoshi stood back up, one hand reaching up to remove his mask.

"Well, there isn't any—"

She was cut off by the sound of a branch breaking, _her_ branch breaking— "AAHH"

She plummeted.

Aoshi ran forward. "_WATCH OUT! **MISAO**_!" He held his hands out to catch her.

Misao opened her eyes, and just in time, angled her body away from his hands.

**Thump**.

"At least I landed on the leaves of the branch." Misao grinned, surprised that the fallen branch cushioned her fall. "That was scary." Misao laughed.

Aoshi walked towards her. "Are you okay?"

She nodded emphatically.

"I'm glad…"

Misao glanced at him worriedly. "Aoshi, promise me…"

Aoshi leaned forward. "Hm?"

"…never touch me." She smiled up at his mask, even as tears welled up in her eyes and coursed down her cheeks. "Please…_ promise me_."

_Next summer and the summer after… every summer, I visited the mountain to see him…_

"Aoshi I'm here again" Misao ran forward and stopped just short of his standing position against the entrance to the abandoned temple. She unconsciously straightened her school uniform. "See I'm in middle school"

Aoshi, still with the mask on, paused. "…you look like a girl."

Misao frowned. "I am a girl."

_Aoshi grows up very slowly, compared to a human. Each year, I look different. But Aoshi looks almost the same as the first time._

Misao watched in silence, watching as Aoshi slowly took his mask off to smile at the butterflies surrounding them…

_One day, I'm going to be older than him… somewhere inside me, I had a wish that he was human._

The sound of the school bell ringing signaled the end of school. There was snow all around the town, and at the moment, Misao was taking care to avoid all the slippery areas.

"Misao!"

She turned at the sound of her name and smiled at the boy. She recognized him from her class.

"It's slippery over there." he called, holding out his hand.

"Thanks." And she grasped it.

_Aoshi… I want to see you… I wish I could touch you…_

* * *

"That's your new uniform? Time passes so fast."

Misao took a seat beside him, idly staring ahead of her. "Yes, it does." She answered softly.

"Already in high school…" Aoshi whispered, as if to himself. He turned back to her, already comfortable with her sitting next to him. "Recently, you never try to jump on me."

"Of course not, you've dodged me so many times." Misao responded blandly. "Anyway, I'm really excited to graduate. I'm planning on finding a job here, so I can see you more often."

She turned to face him as well. "In fall, spring, winter… right?" The smile lit up her face.

Aoshi turned away. "Misao, I will talk about myself."

Misao sighed at the change of topic, but nodded for him to continue.

"I am not a monster but I am also not a human. I used to be a human's child but my parents left me here when I was a baby." Aoshi grabbed a blade of grass and began to fiddle with it.

"At that time my life was supposed to end. But the god of the mountain had pity for me, and he let me live with his power." He dropped the blade of grass and contented himself with just leaning back against the palms of his hand.

"As I wished, I stayed here not able to die… just like a ghost." Aoshi turned back to her. "Misao, you can forget about me."

He held out his hand, staring down at it. "My body is very fragile. If a human touched me, the spell will fade away. My existence is not true, so you should forget about me."

Misao shook her head. "Aoshi, you are like snow… if I touch you, you are going to disappear." She smiled to herself. "I was always thinking about you…" she suddenly looked up, hoping that he understood. "Please don't forget about me.

_One day, time is going to separate the two of us. But still, until then… let's stay together._

* * *

"Monster festival?" Misao exclaimed.

"No, monster_s'_ festival."

"What's the difference?" Misao continued, annoyed.

"Nuance is different."

"Nu..ance..?"

Aoshi shook his head, not bothering to elaborate. "You were too small to ask before… tonight, can you come?"

Aoshi stared up at the sky. "I've always wanted to go with you."

Misao felt the lightest blush gracing her face. "YESI want to go!"

Aoshi leaned back in surprise at her enthusiasm. "Okay then.. eight o'clock at the same place."

Misao grinned sheepishly. "…but it seems kind of scary."

"Don't worry," Aoshi lifted his mask to smile at her, "it's exactly like the human's festival. The monsters pretend to be human. I will protect you."

Misao laughed. "If you tell me that kind of stuff, I would want to jump on you."

Aoshi kept his smile up, but the emotion behind it shifted. "Sure, you can if you want to… that's my wish."

Misao could only stare.

* * *

That night, Misao made sure to dress in the proper kimono before heading out to meet him. The walk to the festival was a quiet one, but Misao never felt more at ease than at that moment.

"Wow… monsters change almost the same as humans."

Aoshi nodded. "Yes, it's amazing. Sometimes, humans get lost here without knowing about it."

Misao blinked. "Like Okita-san—"

"Who?"

"Nevermind.."

Aoshi shrugged, and pulled put a long ribbon. "Misao, tie this on your wrist. You can get lost."

Misao grinned, fashioning the ribbon around her wrist after Aoshi did his own. "This is like date."

"This is a date—" Aoshi quickly averted his masked face, the very action causing Misao's grin to widen.

They strolled around the festival, stopping under a shade of trees to admire the sudden display of fireworks caused by one of the monsters. Under the protective shade, Aoshi gently tugged on the ribbon to get Misao's attention.

"I cannot wait for summer anymore, when you are away. I want to go through the crowd of people just to find you."

Misao felt, once again, a blush heating her face. To her complete surprise, Aoshi took of his mask and placed it on her own face.

—Aoshi leaned forward and dropped a kiss on the cheek of the mask.

"The mask is for you."

Misao was sure Aoshi could see her smile behind the mask.

_I think next summer, he will never come back to the place again. I think this moment, is the end of…_

One of the monsters posing as a child ran by the two, laughter erupting from the child's mouth.

In its excitement, it tripped and nearly fell if it weren't for Aoshi reaching out to prevent him from falling.

"Watch out next time." Misao called lightly, waving as the kid nodded and ran away.

Next to her, Aoshi was staring at his own hands.

Misao sighed, "Kids these days—Aoshi?"

Light was emanating from Aoshi's fingers, like fireflies taking off from his very being.

"Aoshi…" Misao breathed, a horrifying realization coming upon her. She remembered Aoshi's words, '_sometimes, humans get lost in the mountain_'…

Aoshi stared in wonderment at his own hands, his own **fading** hands. He slowly looked up and met Misao's eyes.

The most beautiful smile Misao had ever seen was currently gracing Aoshi's face. He held out his arms to her. "Come Misao. I can finally touch you."

It was as if time had slowed down for the two of them. Misao was only vaguely aware of pulling the mask of her face as she ran into his arms. His warm, _**real** _body.

She was hugging him. She was **hugging** him.

"I love you." He whispered into her hair, holding her tightly.

—And just like that, he vanished from her arms. A multitude of fireflies breaking away from her embrace.

"Yes." She whispered brokenly. "Me too."

Around her, monsters grouped together but none approached her. "_T_h_a_n_k_ y_o_u." One of the monsters spoke. "_W_e _w_i_s_h_e_d _t_o _s_t_a_y _w_i_t_h _A_o_s_h_i _l_o_n_g_e_r_ b_u_t _A_o_s_h_i…"_

Another monster continued, "h_e_ w_i_s_h_e_d_ t_o_ t_o_u_c_h _a_ h_u_m_a_n."

Misao nodded silently, kneeling to pick up the mask that belonged to him.

_He was finally able to hug a human._

* * *

_I think for a while, I will not be able to feel excited for summers to come. _

_My heart will hurt and my tears will flow…_

_But the warmth that stayed in my hand…_

_And the memory of the summer…_

_Will live with me forever._

**A/N**: So what did you think? Pretty angsty… .. but I enjoyed writing it. I hope everyone else did too! XD


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